The Don’s Secret Wife Chapter 05

The Don’s Secret Wife Chapter 05

Joseph’s chest seized. He turned.

Down the block, a crowd had gathered. Sirens wailed, police cruisers and ambulances swarming the

intersection.

He couldn’t explain the dread that slammed through him, the visceral pull to run toward the noise.

Ruby’s fingers closed around his wrist.

“Joseph, something’s wrong. It hurts…”

A flicker of conflict crossed his face. He looked toward the crowd one more time, then hit the gas.

Ruby came first.

He told himself it wasn’t her. Plenty of disabled women lived in New York. And the bystander had screamed about the woman being pregnant. Ina wasn’t pregnant. It couldn’t be Ina.

But the second the car pulled away, Ruby’s crying stopped. Just like that.

She leaned into him, voice sweet again.

“Joseph, do you want a boy or a girl?”

Joseph barely heard her.

“Either’s fine.”

He and Ina had almost had a child once.

She’d only just found out she was pregnant when his empire collapsed.

They were running for their lives. They could barely keep themselves alive, let alone a baby. Ina had ended the pregnancy, crying through the whole thing.

Then she’d taken a bullet for him and lost her right leg.

He’d sworn, right there, that he would give her the life she deserved.

Ruby watched his gaze drift and felt irritation spike through her. That cripple, still haunting him,

even now.

Good thing she’d already taken care of it. After tonight, that bitch would never stand up again.

Ruby opened her mouth to snap at him, and real pain tore through her abdomen. She screamed.

Joseph’s patience was already gone. “Cut the theatrics, Ruby. It can’t hurt that badly.”

Sweat beaded across Ruby’s forehead. Her face contorted, and she clamped onto his arm. “Get me to the hospital. Now!”

Joseph glanced over. The seat beneath Ruby was soaked red.

The color drained from his face. He floored it.

It wasn’t enough.

Ruby lost the baby.

Joseph stared at the light over the operating room doors, restless, uneasy. Something didn’t feel right. He pulled his capo aside and told him to trace Ruby’s movements over the past few days.

That’s when he heard two nurses passing in the hallway, voices low.

“Did you hear about Southside? A pregnant woman, disabled, the one with the prosthetic, she jumped. Didn’t make it. Neither did the baby.”

“God, it’s so sad. The ICU staff said they heard them arguing before she jumped. Apparently her boyfriend faked being broke the whole time and married some rich girl behind her back. And her father, someone killed him right there in the hospital. She had nothing left. That’s why she

jumped.”

“What kind of man does that? Absolute scum.”

Joseph’s whole body went rigid. He grabbed the nurse by the arm. “The woman who jumped. What was her name?”

The nurse flinched. “I… I don’t know much, something Carter… wait, yes. Ina. Ina Carter.”